Packed with colorful photos of past and current Medal winners, Michael Boo gives us a peek into the demanding and rewarding art of skating in general and figure skating in particular. Grace, power and endurance are the elements that make up a figure skater. The reader will be enchanted with the bits of history about the sport and learn about the scoring system that is used to determine who gets the Gold.

A word of warning: you may be inspired to rent some skates and try your local skating rink this season.

I'm sure you've heard "Knit one, pearl two" used in a variety of situations, but what exactly are people talking about? The Everything Knitting Book will answer your questions.

This book wasn't around when Mom presented me with my first set of needles and a skein of wool. This book can do for you what she did for me. This is a very basic introduction to the types of wool, needles and stitches used to create some very stunning articles that can be worn or given as gifts.

Whether you're a old pro- or just want to become one -this book is a primmer and reference for all things Knitted.

Ellen Sirleaf. Perhaps you’ve heard of her, but most likely not. There’s not a lot of good news coming out of Africa recently in my opinion. However, Ellen J. Sirleaf, President of Liberia is good news. A survivor of her country’s bloody cues and crushing debt, President Sirleaf is the first woman of native decent to hold such a High office.

Traditionally,women in African culture are the strength of families and communities, but are seldom recognized for their contributions when compared to African men. Therefore, when a woman is elected President in a country steeped in a tradition of patriarchal rule, a huge break with tradition has occurred. When that same woman is also a Nobel Prize winner people start to take what she has to say seriously.

Sirleaf shares her life story, her struggles, her moments near death at the hands of fellow countrymen. The reader will feel the horror of conflicts that continue to tear at the heart of Liberia. Readers will ponder the politics that twist and cut like razor wire. Her story is also one of perseverance, courage under pressures (both external and internal), and her struggles to bring a third world country into the peace and security of a unified state.

Ellen Sirleaf is good news and history in the making. Be sure not to miss a moment of her journey.

Are you the next great game or application inventor? Don't have the big bucks to shell out for one of those big named CAD software Packages? There is a free, open source solution to your 3d animation and gaming creation needs. This book focus on the iphone and takes a simple but powerful, stright forward approach to walking through the development process. Blender can be used on PC, Linux and most Apple computers. Your invention might just be the next big thing since Angry Birds!

Don't know a thing about programming languages? Neither did I when I enrolled in my first computer programming class. This book helped me hit the ground running. There are a large number of languages used to program applications for computers. Basically, programming involves knowing which set of special characters and text to combine in order to "speak" to the computer's central processing unit. Your computer only understands 1 and 0. Setting up the text editors and compilers, learning to troubleshoot your code errors, and running the program files are hardest parts of the process.

This book explains the structure commands require to be converted into machine code and shows the most common mistakes new programmers make. A good starting resource for anyone even thinking about getting to programming languages.

As creatures of vanity one of our favorite forms of play is the cultivation of personal adornment. As creatures of time, this play begats fashion. And by watching fashion move through time while gaging its different resonances, and then by pairing this knowledge with our own induvidual aethetics, we often create a personal sense of style.

If the above paragraph makes any sense to you, you might be interested in this book. It was obviously put together in the late 80s, published in the very early 90's. It looks at the most used accessories of that time, giving some history on them, plus advice as how to wear them. As such, it is more than just a nostalgic read, it is also a window into forms of visual presentation that are now unpopular and neglected, hence interesting fodder for the style-generating personal imagination.

So-- if the above sentence makes any sense to you, you might enjoy flipping through this book.

This is a visually-enticing introduction to the concept, history of, and application of, codes. Because it covers so much territory, it covers many topics, with each one covered quickly. What is missing is enough overview material to fully integrate all these topics into a properly coherent whole. This weakness, however, is forgotten when contemplating the book's key strength -- its colorful, dynamic parade of engaging illustrations. One can get so wrapped up in the visual delights that all else fades away. Therefore--recommeded.

Whenever you scroll over content on a web page, click a link to another site, or fill in user information on an online form you are using Java. All those interesting games on the Web require Java functions to come alive.

Another reason to learn Java is that source code created for one application can be reused in many others.

You may want to run a single program on widely different platforms such as iOS (Apple), Windows (Microsoft) or Gingerbread (Android). Java’s open source object orientated structure will make that happen. This book will take you from setting up the work environment, to coding your introduction to the World. Jump in and have fun. No you will not master the language in 24hrs but you will be on the road to serious understanding and creating fun programs in 24 sessions. This book uses very easy to understand language and provides step by step examples for each project.

Having read Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley not long ago, I was drawn to this novel which, like Catch Trap, is set in a circus traveling the USA in the mid 20th century. Water for Elephants was less intense and less detailed, but was an enjoyable read. The circus atmosphere was realistically protrayed and the characters were interesting. While the relationship between the main characters and the actions of Rosie the elephant were not a surprise to me, I was compelled to read on to find out exactly how things came to be. The depiction of Jacob as an old man is very sensitively done. Water for Elephants is a light, entertaining book.

If you have ever considered doing patchwork, this could be the book for you. The author has a design sense that blends funky old with interesting contemporary. This allows her to entice the reader into contemplating starting up projects, easy or difficult, that are far too charming to resist. As an oldie, my only gouse is that some of the directions are in too small a font.

This is a 4 volume set, and this is a review of Volume 2.

Volume 2 looks at the history of Pennsylvania's Wissahickon watershed from approx. 1850-1940. This is the period during which most of what we now consider the area was developed. It was also the period during which Philadelphia's Fairmont Park incoroprated much of the lower Wissahickon, that what is now Northwest Philly became part of the city, and that a distinctive Wissahickon style came into being.

Contosta and Franklin present these and other events and influences in a series of illustrated and illustrative vignettes that allow them to convey a lot of information in little space. In short, for anyone with any interest or affection for this area, this book will be a welcome feast for the heart, the mind and the eye.

Book One of the Dresden Files. He calls Chicago home, even if his apartment is in the basement. His car is a beat-almost-to-death VW bug, and his mouse is a mountain of a dog. What makes Harry noteworthy is that he's a PI with an unusual twist. He can do magic. Not the slight of hand varity or an illusionist. We're talking full-on, card-carrying, certified Wizard.

When a boy trys to hire him as a bodyguard, Harry refuses to take his money or the job, but when the kid turns up missing - it's Harry (guilt much?) to the rescue. Includes other Dresden short stories.

Here we have a well-thought out personal philosophy that is very different from the options usually offered in America. The author is both intelligent and witty enough to make his analysis of why modern life obstructs happiness a sharp, observent and often accurate diagnosis. For this alone the book is well worth a read.

What is most challenging about the book is the author's prescription, what for him works as a foundation to a moderately satisfying life. This includes a blend of certain aspects of classical Stoicism, Buddhism and Existentialism. What is most telling is not what he includes, but what he leaves out. 4 of the traditional 7 virtues do not seem to register: Justice, Hope, Faith and unselfish Love. It makes this reader's soul ache to think of a life without these. Foley's big advice is to learn to enjoy absurdity. But he does not explore the fact that our sense of absudity only exists because we have an inate feel for, and desire for, meaning. Meaning reaches deep within us; the humor of absurdity only tickles our neocortex's funnnybone. A sense of meaning, by involving our emotions, ties into the limbic system and so influences us in a far more profound way. Meaning is primary; absurdity, while often granting the pleasure and quick release of a laugh, is a small secondary effect.

It is easy to recommend this book because it will make you think seriously about life, and its possible or impossible meanings.

Magiere knows she can count on her companions, Chap the Fay-born wolf and Leesil, a deadly assassin with his own set nighmares. Only this time, it's Leesil who needs the back-up. This time it's his mother's life at stake, and while they haven't been close in years, they share a bond. Magiere, Chap and young Win the scholar will rush to her defense, and learn a bit more about their half elf friend in the process.

Straken answers reader's questions about why the Forbidden was created. Grianne Ohsford, the Isles Witch, who has wandered the stricken landscape without her memories encounters the one person who can help her get them back. There's only a couple of little problems. She can't tell if he's friend or foe and the one creature she thought she could trust has betrayed her.

The continuation of the much read Shannara Saga takes the reader into the Forbidding where Grianne Ohmsford, the rightful High Druid was abducted and trapped beyond a powerful barrior of harmful magic. Her seat on the Druid council is up for grabs unless young Pen can free her. Meanwhile, Pen must seek the aid of uncertain allies in his quest. What magic will be strong enough breach the Forbidding? Will they find Grianne in any shape to travel, and what challenges will they face when trying to return once they have achieved that goal?

For older children, we recommend Calef Brown’s Boy Wonders, which is the perfect book for any first or second grader who has discovered the question “why?” The main character in this book wonders about whether “paper plates and two-by-fours remember being trees” or if phones get annoyed if no one calls. Some of the text tries so hard to be silly it veers into the too abstract: “Do you ever wonder whether schools of narwhal have the wherewithal to play tetherball together.” So even though some kids will scratch their heads and other kids will tell you that narwhals swim in pods, not in schools, the overall message is a positive one for inquisitive youngsters. It encourages them to find out these answers by asking even more questions, ending the rhyme with a challenge: “any suggestions?” to encourage participation.

The story follows a group of monsters home from school one afternoon (“Monsters creep,/monsters crawl/Over the meadow/And up the wall”) and through their evening routines. They eat dinner, take a bath, and eventually, after a bit of tossing and turning (or growling and gurgling, in Yolen’s rhyme), they finally drift off to sleep. This lullaby is short and accessible to toddlers and preschoolers, and the goofy and inventive monster shapes lurking everywhere in Murphy’s soft oil, acrylic and gel illustrations will delight monster lovers and impersonators alike.

Old librarians should know better than to delve into the shaky world of celebrity bio, but as guilty pleasures go, this one is well enough done that this librarian can report no guilt, only pleasure.

What makes this work is not that this is a book about famous Cary Grant by his daughter, but that is a book by a loving daughter working out her sense of her unusual, complicated, loving father. That is a story that can play anywhere about almost anyone, and with it Jennifer Grant manages to rise above her genre.

So if you are interested, give yourself permission to read this one. it wouldn't hurt a bit.

This is an easy to use, complete with its own patterns, book for sewing the cutest dresses for young girls. The authors build and rebuild on 4 basic designs so that you can add or subtract details as you please. The instructions are clear, and since the clothes are, by definition, small, you could even hand sew some of these. A well presented craft book.